Preparation continues for the soon-to-be-opened Please Touch Museum in its new space in Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall.

WHYY Arts and Culture reporter Alex Schmidt visited the new site with construction going full speed and got a sneak preview of this amazing space.

The centerpiece of the new building is a giant replica of the Statue of Liberty’s torch constructed entirely out of the “tools of play,” also know as toys.  Schmidt witnessed the raising of the torch as it was placed on the end of the giant arm that occupies the museum’s large open hall.

It’s an homage to the actual Statue of Liberty arm and torch that occupied Memorial Hall in 1886 as a fund raising effort to finance the construction of the rest of the statue.

The new space will open to the public on October 18, 2008.

I’m a little behind in posting on The Sixth Square but I wanted to point out that WHYY’s Arts and Culture reporter Alex Schmidt had a great piece about Cinco de Mayo on 90.9 FM on Monday.

Schmidt went talk to some folks in Philadelphia’s Mexican immigrant community to get the real scoop on Cinco de Mayo and found, not surprisingly, that we Americans seem to have taken a relatively obscure Mexican holiday and blown it up with our half-priced margaritas at Chili’s.

Even folks from the Mexican state - Puebla - in which the events of the original “cinco de Mayo” took place don’t think it’s all the big a deal. They apparently celebrate an event that happened in late April with festivals and the like. And did you know that a good percentage of Philadelphia’s Mexican immigrant population hails from that particular state?

Anyway, for the rest of Mexico, Mexican Independence Day, September 16th, is the big event.

But I guess dieciséis de Septiembre just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Last week, WHYY’s Brenda Jorett interview long-time Philadelphia Phillies videographer, Dan “Video Dan” Stephenson about “Richie Ashburn: A Baseball Life.”

Richie Ashburn became a Philadelphia sports icon with his blazing speed rounding the bases wearing number one and snaring fly balls in center field as a Whiz Kid. Many of us remember “Whitey” best as the “color man” paired with Phils broadcaster Harry Kalas from 1971 until Ashburn’s untimely death in September 1997.

The Ashburn movie was a fan favorite at the Philadelphia Film Festival which just wrapped up last night. It premiered on Monday night - one of a handful of films to sell out in advance - and screened again last night as the festival came to a close.

You can read more about the film at The Phanatic Magazine blog.

You can also listen to Brenda Jorett’s interview of “Video Dan” Stephenson.

If anyone has seen the film, feel free to offer your reviews in the comments section.

Writer Kristine Kennedy catches a few words with “Tenure” producer Tai Duncan about making a movie in Philadelphia. The film, starring Luke Wilson and Gretchen Mol is currently shooting in the Philadelphia area. Thanks to Mike Kennedy for production assistance.

Listen to it here.

Writer Kristine Kennedy spoke with “Set in Philadelphia” point man Brian Wade. The program, in its sixth year, shines a spotlight on Philadelphia screenwriters by running both a writing and a movie pitch competition during the Film Festival. Thanks to Mike Kennedy for production assistance.

Listen to it here.

Horror: South Korea

Seems like every Asian horror film of note revolves around “unspeakable” childhood trauma and the uncomplicated, naïve psychological profiling of maniacs made by society. Black House is no different. At times comical in its simplistic characterizations, this fairly predictable allegory exposes, if it is to be taken at face value, not just how new the notion of very bad people is to Korean society, but how much we Americans take it for granted. And, oh- insurance companies suck.

Juno, an unusually compassionate insurance investigator, employed to find a way to cheat people out of settlements, finds himself in a moral pickle when drawn into the psychopathic money grubbing of a disturbed couple willing to go to great lengths to collect payments for suspicious accidents. A willfully ignorant fool, he is easily sucked into a tepidly plotless, often unintentionally funny, murderfest. Who will be next? How can he stop it?

Perhaps it only unique feature of Black House is the totally over-the-top rumble between a morally crushed Juno and the real killer. Oh, but that’s not the end. In fact, there’s another fifteen minutes.

Next screening is Tonight (Thursday, April 10), 9:30 pm at The Bridge in West Philly.

You may not know the name Isaiah Zagar but if you’ve ever been to the Bella Vista neighborhood in South Philadelphia or walked past the Super Fresh on South Street you are undoubtedly familiar with his work.

WHYY’s Arts and Culture reporter, Alex Schmidt talked to Jeremiah Zagar, the artist’s son, whose film, In A Dream tells the story of his artist family. The younger Zagar talks about past portrayals of his family and his surprise at the reception that the film received at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.

You can hear the report, which ran over the weekend, by clicking here.

Stay tuned for a couple of podcasts from our special film fest contributor, Kristine Kennedy, who continues to chronicle the festival.

Cast: Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Sophia Myles (Tristan and Isolde), Ciaran Hinds (Margot at the Wedding)

I tend to avoid films at festivals that already have distribution and or studio backing. But, Mr. Foe fit into my schedule and peaked my interest. The skinny: A young Scott, on the brink of eighteen, desperately clinging to fading memories of his dead mother, is tossed from the nest of a verdant rural estate by his ice queen step mom in order to “get over it and move on”. Left to his own crafty devices in the big city, he finds what he has been looking for- mummy. The Inquirer reviewed this film yesterday, revealing most every plot point and rendering the film unexciting if you still decided to go see it. I’ll leave my description to the above, adding only that I found the film very well constructed, superbly acted, and totally endearing. Perhaps it’s telling that I liked it more than my husband, who had a difficult time discerning some of the characters motivations. I guess I find young men in search of maternal “guidance” kind of sexy (and totally logical). Sorry.

Plays again Wednesday April 9, 2:15 pm at the Bridge in west Philly. Rumor is that Mr. Foe will be released theatrically in the coming months.

Sadly, the film I saw Friday night, Bad Biology, has finished playing at the Film Festival, apparently to two sold out audiences. So, I’ll spare the in depth write up, because you will have to wait awhile in order to see it (rumor has it that TLA Video has a distribution offer on the table).  But, for those of you who loved Frankenhooker and Basket Case, director Frank Henenlotter’s long awaited re-appearance to the low budget horror scene is long overdue. I cannot recall having seen either, which, if Bad Biology is any measure, must mean that I never saw them, because this guy’s sense of right and wrong is truly unforgettable. I’ve never witnessed so many newborn babies being left for dead in one film. Mr. Henelotter was on hand to accept the Phantasmagoria award, whatever that means, and answer questions along with producers and cast. I’ll refer you to their Myspace page for further information: www.myspace.com/badbiology

Saturday was quite exciting. I participated in PhillyPitch!, run by the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers component of the Film Office. Along with seven other reasonably unprepared pitchers, I got up in front of a live audience and a panel of judges to pitch my movie idea (really my husband’s movie idea). The judges hit the first two pitchers hard, interrupting them, demanding an off-the-cuff delivery with very specific information, insisting that we not perform for the audience, which is hard to do when a hundred people are watching you do this.  So, going third, I felt like I had it easy. Overall, it was a good experience, though one panelist did dismiss my buddy comedy, which takes place in heaven, with the daft quip, “Sounds like Evan Almighty, which lost $150 million dollars”.  Didn’t realize that the giraffes and lions counted as buddies and that said flop was even considered a comedy.

Afterwards, I headed to the G Bar (under Davio’s on 17^th) for some open bar shenanigans.  Panelists, pitchers, and lots of people who didn’t realize there were underground bars in Philadelphia came out to hob-knob and look good. There I ran into Bad Biology producer R.A. “the Rugged Man” and actress extrordinaire Charlee Danielson, who were on hand at the behest of the festival organizers. We hob-knobbed and looked good as long as we could. Did it work? I think so.

Last night was the official kick-off to the 17^th Philadelphia Film Festival. I know, it crept up on you. You forgot all about it. What’s going on? What should I see? There are so many movies I’ve never heard of…. Well, I’m here to help. Truth be told, it crept up on me, too. But, I have the scoop on a couple of flicks and I’m gonna hit the first screening of as many as I can. Most of films have two screenings, so you can hopefully catch the second if it interests you.

First, I caught I.O.U.S.A at Sundance and can’t recommend it enough. From the makers of the thriller/doc Wordplay about crossword puzzler Will Shortz comes a glaringly hard look at the national debt as you never thought you would have to see it. We’re in it deep people and you need to know why. Auteurs Patrick Creadon and Christine O’Malley make the depressing news that this country is going down the shitter surprisingly entertaining with easily digestible graphics and the most charismatic economists to ever hit the big screen.

Monday April 7, 7:15 pm @ Ritz East

Wednesday April 9, 5 pm @ International House

Second, though I have not seen it myself, the documentary In a Dream, about local mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar and his family as they traverse a crisis comes highly recommended to me by another documentarian who saw it at South by Southwest. Whether you love or hate the man’s broken glass wall coverings, it has been assured me that you will be endeared by his personal story.

Friday April 4, 7:30 pm @ International House

Saturday April 5, 3 pm @ Ritz East.

Without seeming like a sycophant, I must insist that you all see New Year Parade by Temple grad student Tom Quinn, who, as it seems, is weirdly and substantially connected to my world. This is a delicate family portrait book ended by two New Year’s parades and prominently features real live Mummers.

Saturday April 12, 9:30 pm @ International House

Monday April 14, 4:45 pm @ Prince Music Theatre.

Finally, if you want to hang with me, you should check out some of the innovative horror films in this year’s Festival hailing from Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, and yes, Canada. Catch them in their original rated weird condition, before Hollywood remakes them with Sarah Michelle Gellar in after-school-special fashion.

For more info and movie times, check out http://www.phillyfests.com/pff/home.cfm

Look for Kristine Kennedy’s column on the Ritz Filmbill website, “Only in the Movies”, coming soon to www.filmbillmag.com.